My Bloody Valentine
by LanieSullivan
Summary: My second answer to the challenge to write a story containing the words, "Happy Valentine's Day," muttered a disgruntled (insert character name). Filler for Mission of Gold to describe Lee's actions between calling Dotty and arriving at Barney's. Tissue warning.


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Answer to the challenge write a story using the words, "Happy Valentine's Day," muttered a disgruntled (insert character name). Again, I would like to ask my readers to not give away crucial plot points in reviews. Thank you.

"Happy Valentine's Day," muttered a disgruntled Lee Stetson as he wandered aimlessly up and down the aisles of the hospital's gift shop and seeing the overly-cheery and completely cheesy Valentine's Day merchandise on display. Unimaginative bouquets, cards with moronic puns that only a fourth-grader would find humor in, cheaply made ceramic coffee mugs peppered with pink and red hearts.

He let out a deep sigh. He hadn't even intended to walk into the place, had simply been meandering through the hospital after his grim conversation with Dr. Neely about Amanda's prognosis and his disheartening one to his new mother-in-law as he'd delivered the bad news to her. In his time at The Agency, he'd been the one to deliver that kind of news more than once, but this time...this time it was different than any other. He wasn't the co-worker or partner extolling the virtues of the injured or deceased agent using worthless platitudes in his miserable attempt to console a grieving or worried family member. This time, he was the worried, grieving family member who was sharing the bad news with another family member. Not that Dotty knew that, of course.

He shook his head, ran a hand through his hair and strolled over to the next aisle. He had hoped that by walking in here and looking for a gift for Amanda to brighten up her hospital room when she woke up would make him feel better...would give him more hope that she _would_ wake up. As he rounded the corner, he realized it was just another shelf full of similarly-marketed items, "More crap," he grumbled as he recalled Amanda's words at Christmas, _special gifts for special people._ None of this fit that bill, not for someone as amazing as his wife.

"Happy Valentine's Day," He mumbled again as he picked up a teddy bear holding a heart with those words stitched on it. "What a crock of shit." He shoved the bear back into its place as his mind drifted back to the early hours of the morning and how Amanda had whispered those words in his ear while they made love in their room at the Crystal Springs Inn where they'd spent their wedding night. They'd lingered so long in bed this morning that they'd had to scramble furiously to avoid missing their flight to California. He recalled Amanda teasing him and trying to coax him into staying in bed and taking a later flight. After all, they were in no hurry since they were on vacation. Why not enjoy their honeymoon? God, how he wished he'd listened to her, but he'd made a promise to Barney.

Lee was pulled from his thoughts by a voice beside him saying, "I know what you mean." He glanced over and saw a younger man elegantly dressed in a tux, rifling through the shelves with the same perturbed look on his face. He looked him up and down as the man continued with, "I came in here looking for something for my bride while the doctors are fixing her up," as he slammed a novelty mug back onto the shelf in aggravation.

"What happened to her?" Lee asked with a furrowed brow, figuring he could use someone to commiserate with right about now.

"It was the stupidest thing. There we are at our wedding reception and things are starting to wind down so we can get ready to make our escape," the younger man replied as he shuffled past him to look at the stuffed animals that Lee had just turned up his nose at. "If you know what I mean..." He gave Lee a pointed look. "But then her idiot sister drags her out there on the dance floor and they're doing the electric slide. They both had a few too many drinks in them and they started trying to out-do each other; they've got this whole crazy sibling rivalry thing going on. Next thing I know, my girl's on the ground with a broken ankle." He snorted and turned back to the shelf, plucked the bear Lee had discarded from it and said, "This'll do." As he walked to the cashier, he added one final parting shot of "Some honeymoon I'm going to have with my wife on crutches."

Lee was seething with fury at that last crack and clenched his fists at his side, trying to hold himself in check to resist belting the young man. Who the hell did he think he was? He should be grateful that he wife was okay and not fighting for every breath. Didn't he realize just how damn lucky he was? He stomped to the checkout counter where the younger man has stepped up with his purchase.

"This is now half-price," the matronly cashier told him brightly as she began to ring him up but then her smile faded and she paused in her task at seeing Lee. "Are-are you okay, S-sir," she stammered awkwardly.

Unfurling his fists as he glowered at the man beside him and realizing that it just wasn't worth it, he choked out, "Aspirin," needing something to take care of the blistering headache he now had.

"No, I...uh...I...um...I meant...your...um..." She nodded toward his shirt. "You've got...um...you have blood on your shirt. Are you injured? Do you need a doctor?" she asked in concern.

Lee glanced down and for the first time since arriving at the hospital, noticed the spots of blood on his shirt and shook his head. _Amanda's blood,_ he thought forlornly as he recalled how he'd reached for her in their rental car to be certain she was still alive while Barney had run to call for help and how in those few seconds, he'd never felt more afraid of anything in his life than that he'd find no pulse, no sign of life and the sigh of relief he'd breathed when he'd found one, albeit a faint one, but still, that was something. "It...um...it's not mine," he answered dismally. "My...um...my...wi-wife...she was...sh-sh-shot." His voice cracked on the last word.

He took another deep breath to calm himself before he totally lost it "Aspirin, please," he stated in a firmer tone once he'd found his voice again.

The clerk nodded as she hurried from behind the counter a look of deep sympathy. "Of course, Sir."

"Hey! I was here first!" the young bridegroom protested loudly just as Lee began to follow the clerk. "And I've got a grumpy bride on crutches to deal with! Now I'm gonna' spend my entire honeymoon listening to her whining!"

Finally having had enough, Lee whipped around to face the young man, jabbing him hard in the chest with one finger. "Listen, Pal! You should be grateful for those crutches and for every bit of whining you hear from her, you get me? My bride is upstairs in the ICU fighting just to stay alive and I may never hear her voice again! I'm gonna' be spending _my_ honeymoon just praying that she lives!"

"Here you go, Sir," she clerk interjected cheerfully as she stepped between the two men and handed Lee a bottle of aspirin then turned her attention back to the now ashen-faced younger man. "Now, let's get you taken care of, so you can get back to your bride, huh?" she added pointedly.

Lee made his way to the row of coolers along the outside wall while the clerk hurriedly finished the other man's transaction and then approached him just as he was extracting a bottle of water. "I'm very sorry about your wife, Sir."

"Thank you." Lee replied softly as he turned to face her. "You know, I came in here with the idea of looking for something for her...I don't know...for when she wakes up...It's stupid. I thought...I thought if I got her a gift...something to look forward to giving her...it...it...I don't know...might give me some hope that she _would_ wake up...stupid."

She shook her head. "No. It's not stupid at all. I think it's a lovely idea." She glanced to the discounted Valentine's Day merchandise that Lee had turned up his nose at and continued, "But you don't want any of that cheap mass-produced garbage that's made in Taiwan."

Lee laughed a bit at her phrasing with a shake of his head. "No, definitely not."

"Listen, before you two came in here, I was trying to condense some of that stuff so I could get ready to put out some of our regular merchandise back out." She gestured for him to follow her. "I've got a box of stuff over here. Maybe you'll find something you like better in it."

"Maybe," Lee responded a bit skeptically, but followed anyway. As soon as she led him to the large box of stuffed animals, one caught his eye and his face brightened. "I'll take that one!"

She looked at him curiously as she picked up the item in question. "Are you sure? You haven't seen them all yet."

Lee set the water and aspirin bottles down on the counter and took the coveted item from her. "I don't need to see the rest," he answer confidently as he held the small stuffed panda in both hands, its dark eyes seemingly boring into his the way his own Panda's so often did. "This is the one for her." He knew it without a doubt just as he knew Amanda was the one for him.


End file.
